


Dreams, Reasons, and Results of Both

by internalmonologue



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, M/M, Royalty, Stupidity, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23654647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/internalmonologue/pseuds/internalmonologue
Summary: Sometimes, it's about support. Sometimes, it's about forgiveness, and sometimes, it's about what's real. Mostly, it's about loyalty, trust, and who deserves them.
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 1





	Dreams, Reasons, and Results of Both

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy the show!

Daxam was happy. Daxam was unbelievably happy, because he was going out. Publicity, the advisors had said, good press, if the beloved prince was seen interacting with his people. Avi had been hesitant but Eleazar had looked at the young brunet and seen the wish shining in his gold-flecked chocolate gaze and he had said yes. Eleazar had said yes, and then Avi had looked at him too, and he had seen the immature puppy dog eyes his son was giving him and he had agreed. So, Daxam was going out. Into the world. And he was _talking_ to people, real people who worked and got filthy and ran and played, not just nodding sedately at some stuffy rich visitors who did none of those things. Daxam was happy, because he was going out.

Avi was worried. He was worried because his son was far too excited and, therefore, reckless. Reckless meant he wouldn't stay as close to the guards as he should, wouldn't listen as closely as he should, wouldn't act as quickly as he should if something went wrong. It was a king's job to worry, and worrying he was.

Valkyrie was watching. Her enthusiastic little brother was going out for real, not just strolling around the palace's massive estate or visiting neighboring nations in luxury hotels and protected embassies. While she, as the heiress to the throne, frequently went to various locations in their fathers' territory, he'd never done anything like this before. He was starry-eyed and naive, despite his age and knowledge. She wasn't concerned, per se, as that was her fathers' responsibility, but she did want to look out for Dax. _Val_ , he had said, _they're finally letting me go out!_ He was adorably animated, but Valkyrie didn't want him to get hurt. So, she was watching.

Eleazar was laughing, because dammit, Dax was so cute when he got like that. Practically begging bronze-skinned, serious Avi, grinning ear to ear when he got his 'yes.' His coffee-colored spikes seemed even more childish when he was energetically bouncing in his seat. Eleazar was supposed to be king of Maralia, but the young prince reduced him to chuckling behind his hand in the company of advisors.

The people were talking, for the same reason that Daxam was happy, Avi was worried, Valkyrie was wary, and Eleazar was amused: their prince was going to be visiting several undisclosed locations in the nation, sightseeing and discovering all the country really had to offer, including the people. 

Transportation was arranged, guards were assigned, surveillance was set up, and an operation unofficially dubbed Get The Prince Laid was underway. Of course, no dalliances would occur, but the notion made the whole event more interesting.

Laughing and wisecracking with Eleazar and his older sister and glancing furtively at Avi, Daxam Lancet, prince of Maralia, clambered into a royal limousine.

* * *

It was overwhelming. There were colors, sounds, smells, so many, too many, and he'd never experienced any of them before. Daxam was awestruck by this small town; how was he ever going to withstand a massive city? The streets were littered with vendors peddling from their booths, food trucks offering various cuisine, pedestrians going about their days. There were bright swaths of fabric and beautiful clothing, music and laughter and conversation, produce carts with vibrant fruits and vegetables and there were people. Ordinary people, with ordinary lives, and Daxam was amazed. He had never seen this many people acting so relaxed, so casual. It was not something that he was accustomed to. He loved it.

Daxam forgot, however, that he was standing in the middle of a crowded market and thus was shocked beyond belief when he was mowed down by a gaggle of playing children, with a barely audible, "Sorry!" shouted over their shoulders as an afterthought. He was appalled, but, he realized, he was smiling. Smiling and _laughing_. Prince Daxam of Maralia had always been treated as just that: a prince, royalty. Those children hadn't recognized him. It was refreshing, to not be coddled for once.

An idea struck him. He was free to do as he pleased; why not take advantage? He had money with him, and his family had no shortage of that. Surely some celebratory spending was in order. He beckoned Carmen, a funny plainclothes guard he liked, to accompany him and approached a stand selling jewelry made with vividly hued stones. He purchased a few pieces, intending to give one to his sister, one to her friend Artemis, and keep one as a souvenir for himself. Daxam managed to escape after fifteen minutes of autographs and commemorative pictures, and spent the rest of the afternoon patronizing the local businesses, talking to strangers he met, and immersing himself in the town's subculture. After complimenting several people of varying genders on their looks, he took a bit of ribbing from his favorite guard, who he had come to think of as a friend, about his romantic interests. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Carmen, I was merely pointing out the obvious."

"Sure thing, boss." She grinned.

"Oh, come onnn," Daxam whined, "I wasn't...well, you know...I wasn't!"

At that, Carmen burst into a fit of giggles, her short black waves bobbing around the straps of her halter top, exposing pale shoulders. "You totally weren't flirting, that would be--" she snorted, "--outrageous."

Daxam settled for a childish display of huffing and crossing his toned arms to get his point across, at which point he, too, cracked and started laughing. "Maybe a little..."

Carmen dissolved into a puddle of vaguely human noises. 

* * *

Alexis Saraline ran from a lot of things. For example, he ran from his mother as she screamed slurs and curses at him. He ran from his feelings, he ran from his problems. Why, then, could he not run from the royal messenger-turned-begrudging-kidnapper that was currently at his door?

"Listen, I know the prince wants to see me, but it's really not a good time. My mother is about to murder me and she doesn't want any witnesses."

"Sorry, sir, official orders. You have to come with me."

Alexis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The messenger tapped his foot. Lexi pulled his manicured fingers through the blond hair that framed his face. His current problem looked pointedly at his engraved watch. Clearly this was a stalemate. 

Lexi started, "You know what, fine. I'll--"

"ALEXIS!" A shrill call echoed through the house, "WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?"

He held up his hand for the messenger and yelled back, "I'M LEAVING, I MIGHT BE BACK." With that, he stepped out the door, slammed it behind him, and did what he did best: he ran. He made record speed to the car that had been sent for him and somehow, some way, it pulled away from the mansion just as his mother threw the door open, hands on hips, and gaped. Lexi would have to write his friend and mentor, Ian, about this one; it made the top ten for best moments of his life.

* * *

Lexi was rolling his monochrome green eyes at guards clad in crisp uniforms of red and gold, waiting for the prince to get his royal ass back here, and the prince was waiting for the limo with his royal ass in it to get back to the castle because fuck, he had called for a guest, hadn't he?

Dax and Lexi had always viewed each other with mild interest, but hadn't been together enough to have a relationship of any kind. Alexis, surprisingly, wasn't impressed with Daxam, although Dax, while he would never admit it, may have had the tiniest crush on the kind eldest son of Ivory and Alistair Saraline. This, for better or worse, was the reason for the series of events that followed.


End file.
